Stanford Prison Experiment

[FindersKeepers]

I think I've had an epiphany of sorts. Do you remember the Stanford Prison Experiment, where college students were placed in a simulated prison environment, with some students as guards and others as prisoners? Basically, the results got ugly quick: The guards became abusive and the prisoners became traumatized.

I've realized this is a good metaphor for what the Democrats are doing with our race relations, especially CRT theory. They are telling white people they are oppressors and POC that they are victims. Based on the results of the experiment, do you think anything good can come out of this race baiting? Clearly it is just going to create more division.

https://www.britannica.com/event/Stanford-Prison-Experiment

I think anytime you assign attributes based on anything but personal choice, you're going to have trouble.

That doesn't mean POC haven't collectively been held down in American society, history teaches us differently. Race relations in our nation do have a dark and sordid past. But, attempting to convince today's citizens that they are either victims or perpetrators based on their skin color is dangerous ideology, in my opinion. It's divisive so it's the opposite of the way we want to go.

Can we say that whites used to think they were better than blacks? Yes, for the most part, that's true, and we even have historical documents indicating some believed blacks to have a lesser value than whites.

But, we as a society, have done a good job of clearing that bias up, so I see no need to try to raise it from the ashes.

If we call out bias, bigotry, and racism when we see it--that is enough. Most whites are not racist.

[stephenpe]

Funny how history is fine as long as we all feel comfortable about it. We all grew up knowing Americans wore the white hats and never were as bad as those OTHER people. Our history was written to show how amazing and prosperous we are and from a certain POV. Probably the only country where the losers wrote quite a bit of history (1860s skirmish). Im reading history everyday now. And have for a few years. My schooling was sadly lacking. But I have learned there is not much new when it comes to the opposing parties. Blame the other side. Use fear and hyperbole to paint them as the enemy. And some pols realize the more you use it the better it works on some voters.

[OLD GUY IN FLORIDA]

Except we aren't prisoners. We can laugh at the Woke, pat them on the head, and get on with our day.

No we can't. I was something of a fan of "Dilbert". Now, because of an innocuous statement Dilbert has gone the way of Confederate statues. There are many subtle ways the left keeps us imprisoned and the fact that you think you are free to do as you please shows their plan is working.

[OLD GUY IN FLORIDA]

Funny how history is fine as long as we all feel comfortable about it. We all grew up knowing Americans wore the white hats and never were as bad as those OTHER people. Our history was written to show how amazing and prosperous we are and from a certain POV. Probably the only country where the losers wrote quite a bit of history (1860s skirmish). Im reading history everyday now. And have for a few years. My schooling was sadly lacking. But I have learned there is not much new when it comes to the opposing parties. Blame the other side. Use fear and hyperbole to paint them as the enemy. And some pols realize the more you use it the better it works on some voters.

I am so proud of you Stephen. Your patriotism and love of country just shines through every post you make.

[carolina73]

If you keep picking at the scab the sore never heals. Progressives continue to pick at that scab. There's gold in them dar ills boys and as long as that sore continues to fester there is money and power to be made. People, such as myself, want to see people as individuals, good or bad on their individual merits. My next door neighbors are gay. Nobody in this neighborhood cares. They are good neighbors as people, not as gay people. There are people of all races, religions and sexual orientations in this community. No one cares. There is a high percentage of Hispanics here because of the horse farms. No one cares. It is only when the race and LBGT etc etc hustlers start claiming victimhood is there a problem, and its not with our friends and neighbors.

QUIT PICKING THE DAMN SORE.

If the wound heals then their free money train ends.

[carolina73]

I think anytime you assign attributes based on anything but personal choice, you're going to have trouble.

That doesn't mean POC haven't collectively been held down in American society, history teaches us differently. Race relations in our nation do have a dark and sordid past. But, attempting to convince today's citizens that they are either victims or perpetrators based on their skin color is dangerous ideology, in my opinion. It's divisive so it's the opposite of the way we want to go.

Can we say that whites used to think they were better than blacks? Yes, for the most part, that's true, and we even have historical documents indicating some believed blacks to have a lesser value than whites.

But, we as a society, have done a good job of clearing that bias up, so I see no need to try to raise it from the ashes.

If we call out bias, bigotry, and racism when we see it--that is enough. Most whites are not racist.

I remember racism in the 60s but even then it was nowhere near the racism of the 40s. Today legal racism only exists as reverse racism that punishes whites.
So a black person may need to work a little harder to gain trust with some individual but there is no systematic or legal forms of racism, except in the reverse form. That does not mean that it does no exist between certain people of certain group. We saw blacks attack Asians over the last years. We saw the knockout club by blacks against white people. We know that a very small number of KKK still exist.

The NAACP cannot exist without trying to create widespread racism. The Woke movement is designed to stir up ill feelings not cure them.

[Peter1469]

No we can't. I was something of a fan of "Dilbert". Now, because of an innocuous statement Dilbert has gone the way of Confederate statues. There are many subtle ways the left keeps us imprisoned and the fact that you think you are free to do as you please shows their plan is working.

I can. You are right about people in college today. People who are still working in some businesses and some government offices.

[Standing Wolf]

... The reality is, some people are trying to teach an unvarnished history of America’s relationship with race and how it still has ramifications today. It’s not Democrats that are trying to create legislation to prevent that. ...

Whether that's a good or a bad thing is almost entirely dependent on what is meant by "ramifications" and exactly how they are described. Teaching that earlier generations of Americans and their government discriminated against, mistreated, and routinely denied justice to Black folks and other minorities has been going on for a long time, and few have a problem with it. And while it's perfectly true that some vestiges and residual effects of that ill treatment and discrimination exists - in whose neighborhoods highways and pollution-producing industrial facilities were built, as an example - not every disparity, not every difference in outcome can be blithely attributed to what has gone before - and that is what we are seeing in the editorials and speeches of an increasing number of Black activists and academicians, and what appears to be creeping into school lesson plans at literally every level.

... Democrats aren’t banning books and fighting to obscure uncomfortable realities. ...

Of course they are. Some are not only seeking to ban the teaching of certain books in schools, even at the university level, they are trying to have even so much as the titles of those books removed from references and recommended reading lists. As for "fighting to obscure uncomfortable realities", try bringing up the statistics surrounding firearms-related and other violence in the Black community in a discussion sometime.

... America has a relatively long history of liberals fighting for equality, civil rights, inclusion and tolerance. And an equally long history of conservatives fighting those changes. ...

That is absolutely, 100% the truth. And now some "liberals" have caused the pendulum to swing much too far in the other direction.

... It’s not race baiting or an attempt to create division. ...

I'm afraid that's pretty much exactly what it is, to a great degree. It is an attempt to demonize every single aspect of being White, and to in effect make every Black person not only a victim, but a morally superior person.

There's a quote, the origin of which I haven't been able to determine, and while it's more than somewhat hyperbolic, I still think it is apt here. "Slaves dream not of freedom, but of becoming masters". I say that it's hyperbolic because, of course, Black people in 21st Century America are not slaves - and yet there are so many people out there who seem to be intent on making them think and act as though slavery as an institution just ended a couple of weeks ago and they ought to be traumatized by it. That every bad thing that has ever happened to them, or will happen to them in the future, is the direct result of something White people did.

... It’s not some grand conspiracy. It’s just an attempt to foster a more tolerant society.

In my opinion, nothing could be farther from the truth.

[FindersKeepers]

I remember racism in the 60s but even then it was nowhere near the racism of the 40s. Today legal racism only exists as reverse racism that punishes whites.

And there's no excuse good enough for this. I often hear someone say, "...but for hundreds of years blacks were discriminated against so whites can't complain."

That's wrong because the whites being punished today had no part in the discrimination of yesteryear. Take the young white student who works hard his high school years only to get bumped out of consideration by an Ivy League school by someone who didn't score as high. Being unfair to that young white man does nothing to change what happened to blacks in the past.

That's where it gets screwy.

So a black person may need to work a little harder to gain trust with some individual but there is no systematic or legal forms of racism, except in the reverse form. That does not mean that it does no exist between certain people of certain group. We saw blacks attack Asians over the last years. We saw the knockout club by blacks against white people. We know that a very small number of KKK still exist.

All we can legislate is equality in banking, the workforce, real estate, and other public services/areas. We can't legislate the thoughts of others--although we try--through things like hate crimes, but we need to remember that discrimination happens to many, not just people of color. It's okay that we're different. Poor people of all races, those who don't use good grammar, those who aren't pretty to look upon--they all face a tougher time in society.

The NAACP cannot exist without trying to create widespread racism. The Woke movement is designed to stir up ill feelings not cure them.

I think this is a big part of it.

[The Sage of Main Street]

They don’t want to hide that history? What, they only want to hide it from children?

Some truths are uncomfortable. But acknowledging them isn’t a ploy to create division. Nor is it part of some commie plot.

Blacks in America Have Never Been Treated Worse Than They Deserved